As we conclude day 1 of the Monaco Grand Prix, we are met with surprising results for Red Bull and Mercedes. The two rivals have flipped their roles, with Red Bull not making it into the top 10 in FP1 and Mercedes taking the first and third spots. Although there were adjustments made and Red Bull caught up quite a few places in FP2, Mercedes was still ahead of the champion team.

Lewis Hamilton is making his fans extremely happy with his results, but we couldn’t expect less from him at Monaco. Having the lap record of the track, Hamilton is very quick here and Max Verstappen will have to catch up in the RB20 that is struggling through the circuit. However, after the free practice sessions, the two world champions were interviewed, and Max Verstappen opened up about his problems with the Monaco circuit.

The reason Red Bull struggled at Monaco

Red Bull’s surprising results have shocked many and even the team is baffled as they cannot figure out what exactly is wrong with the car. In an interview after the practice sessions, Max Verstappen spoke about the unexpected outcome of the practice sessions.

That is where he explained, “I don’t think I can describe what is going on. It’s difficult, but not what I did not expect. The worst possible outcome of the weekend. The bumps, kerbs and camber changes, we lose a lot of lap time, as the car struggles to drive.”

Verstappen continued, “We don’t have a clear direction. These things we can’t change with set-up. cause it’s how the car is made. We can make some set-up changes overnight. They [Ferrari] are miles ahead, I am not even thinking about that. I am just focused on making the car more driveable.”

With this now, we know that Red Bull is not feeling confident about the Monaco Grand Prix as their car is just not suited for the track like their other opponents are. Even Lewis Hamilton had some unexpected results on day one, finishing much quicker than anyone thought he would.

Lewis Hamilton’s Monaco domination

Hamilton knows his way around Monaco and he currently holds the record for the fastest lap on the track. So when he was asked about his results from the first practice session, he replied, “I mean… I do that in Monaco so I wasn’t surprised. But what was a surprise was the grip level and how the car was reacting here. Definitely a more enjoyable ride than we’ve had in the last two years particularly.”

Finally, the 7-time world champion sounds happy about how the W15 feels and this is visible in the results. As of now, we do not know which teams are sandbagging to surprise attack the rest of the grid, but we know one thing: Mercedes is going to be giving it their all for the upcoming race.

Despite Lewis Hamilton’s belief that his track knowledge is the reason for his result, his driving skills and control over the car have improved as the season progresses. Hopefully, for Toto Wolff, the team has figured out what made the W15 so hard to drive and it is fixed now, as Mercedes is a team that we are used to seeing in the top 3.

With that said, do you think Mercedes has a chance at their first podium of the season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.